CNN must deliver docs dating back to 2021 as high-stakes defamation suit moves forward, judge rules [Video]

The judge in the high-stakes defamation lawsuit against CNN issued an order on the network’s objections to the plaintiff’s discovery requests this week as litigation moves forward. 

U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young alleges that CNN smeared his security consulting company, Nemex Enterprises Inc., by implying it illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration’s military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business by branding him an illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans” during a Nov. 11, 2021, segment on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” 

Young’s legal team is seeking broad access to CNN’s books in order to determine the company’s net worth. CNN objected but Judge William Henry ruled that the plaintiff can have access to data from the pertinent time window, making the …